Once-young fighters from Sri Lanka are now mostly family men entrenched in Malkangiri town. The way the one-time, once-brash warriors have woven themselves into the community is touching, writes P Sainath.

Ganjam migrants in Surat send home Rs. 400 crore a year, a fourth of that through the unique Tappawala courier system. But global recession has seen remittances take a hit, writes P Sainath.

Ganjam has been a high-migration district from British times. For two decades, the bulk of its labour force has gone to Surat, but that is changing now, writes P Sainath.

The steel plant and port proposed by the South Korean mining giant in Orissa has remained on paper, as local opposition has successfully fought off the company's efforts. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Despite many violations, protests, and committee recommendations against mining in the Niyamgiri hills, the region's fate lies in the corridors of power. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Christian dalits and adivasis in Kandhamal district of Orissa live fearfully among their Hindu neighbours more than two years after large-scale riots against members of their faith. Freny Manecksha reports.

As in many other struggles around the country, in Kalinganagar too there are fractures within the opposition to the proposed industrial plants, and families are torn apart by bleak choices. Freny Manecksha reports.

Environmentalist Ashish Kothari discusses the politics behind the approval of the POSCO project, and how the FRA is faring in Odisha, in conversation with Pradeep Baisakh.

There is wide-spread failure in safeguarding the rights of forest communities protected under the Forest Rights Act. State and Central Governments are complicit in diluting it. Tushar Dash reports.

The battle between Sterlite Industries and tribal communities over mining in the Niyamgiri hills may not be just over yet, but the most recent Supreme Court judgment empowering the gram sabha has come as a temporary reprieve for the people. Kanchi Kohli reports.

The report of the Roy Paul Committee set up by the MoEF to examine and act on the earlier judgment of the Green Tribunal recommends several studies and assessments, but few of those seem to have been considered in the most recent appraisal. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Their shelters and livelihoods ravaged by the deadly recent cyclone, many women along Odisha's coastline are are so bereft of any hope for the future that they feel it would have been better to be among the dead. Sarada Lahangir meets some of them.

With numerous court cases, regulatory rulings and pending environmental clearances behind it, the South Korean steel major POSCO still persists with its plans in India. Kanchi Kohli looks at the latest in the case and wonders why.

The broad-based Community Based Functional Literacy Campaign launched by the State Resource Centre of Rayagada, Orissa aims to educate women and drop-out girls in three of the most backward districts of the state. Abhijit Mohanty summarises the key take-aways so far.

Rejection of regularisation of mines operating beyond lease areas, and compensation for other violations being used for tribal welfare are among the recommendations of a recent report on mining in the state. Kanchi Kohli places the key points in context.

The struggle to feed themselves and their families round the year drives millions of farmers in India to desperate measures. Abhijit Mohanty’s story shows how sustainable agriculture has helped transform the lives of farmers in Odisha’s backward Kalahandi district.

Abhijit Mohanty brings us the story of certain tribal villages in Koraput district of southern Odisha that have successfully overcome the challenges posed by denudation and inadequate irrigation and have etched out a path towards food security and well-being.

The women of Gunduribadi, a small tribal village in Odisha, go out daily for thengapalli or forest patrolling around their village. They are also members of their Forest Protection Committee which decides how to manage the forest and its resources. Sonali Pattnaik spent a day with these sentinels of Gunduribadi to find out how this movement has restored the forest and empowered the villagers.

In spite of the development and welfare plans and programs implemented since Independence, the tribals of our nation remain the most marginalised group. There are many valid reasons for this as Abhijit Mohanty finds out when he looks into the existing Tribal Sub Plan funds and what's happening with it.

Shripad Dharmadhikary explains why setting up a tribunal to resolve the Mahanadi Water Dispute will not help the people or the river.

Himanshu Upadhyaya examines a CAG audit report to point out the blatant non-compliance of environmental laws largely by the Forest officials.

The media is partisan and the government corrupt. In this environment, the committed reporter has no choice but to go out and investigate with a hidden camera. But such sting operations are not a substitute for investigative reporting; as a result even serious revelations are quickly forgotten, says Arun Sadhu.

In response to the devastating floods in Gujarat, state officials were quick to point fingers at activists who have long opposed raising the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada. And even though their claims were clearly off-track, at least one publication thought it fit to repeat them. Himanshu Upadhyaya reports.

Acknowledgement of the declining utility of military force in a nuclear environment may hold a peace dividend that includes Kashmir says Firdaus Ahmed

Event-driven media perpetuates the hostility that marks relations between India and Pakistan, says Kalpana Sharma.

Firdaus Ahmed on the continuing need to guard against over-zealous security managers.

The outpouring of feeling between the countries in recent weeks only underlines the need for more meetings between ordinary Pakistanis and Indians, asserts Dilip D'Souza.

The key challenge facing the security apparatus at all levels is to combat the idea that while carrying out their duties the armed forces can act outside the scope of the law, says Firdaus Ahmed.

Conventional wars are passé, but the military planning for conflict is still rooted in the past. Meanwhile, human security does not get the deserved attention. Firdaus Ahmed wonders how this can win or keep the peace.

The new army chief, Lt. General J J Singh, has drawn much attention as the first Sikh to head the army. More interesting than this sidelight, however, is the fact that he takes office at a time of great opportunity for peace, as political relations with Pakistan have taken a small turn for the better. Firdaus Ahmed welcomes the new commander.

A delegation of entrepreneurs from Pakistan decided to spend Id in India, exploring opportunities for their businesses and forging friendly ties at the same time. Surekha Sule reports that there are many areas where the strengths of the two nations in global trade can be mutually beneficial.

Among military planners, it is common to devise war games to counter any nuclear attack by enemy states. The theories put forward in such games, however, are not always grounded in reality. The peace community should alertly challenge such thinking, says Firdaus Ahmed.

Mani Shankar Aiyar fails on two counts - his poor arguments for secularism, as well as his scant attention to his party's role in creating the economic conditions for communalism. Ashwin Mahesh reviews Confessions of a Secular Fundamentalist.

India currently does not count the costs of defence pensions, para military forces and the defence ministry itself as part of budgeted defence expenditure. Correcting for this and converting to purchasing power terms, we are the third largest spender on defence in the world next only to the US and China, writes Pavan Nair.

On June 29, about 50 press conferences were held across the globe to publicise the names of the 1,000 women from 153 countries jointly nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. The Nobel Committee in Oslo had received the nominations in January 2005. Kamla Bhasin narrates the story.

"It's unnatural, to hunker in a hut only a few dozen yards from another few soldiers looking back at you, and not think of them as just like you in every respect. This happens again the next day and the next - eventually, you'd be a robot not to wave, or shout, or something." Dilip D'Souza joins a post on the Indo-Pak frontlines.

Sustaining the ceasefire between underground groups in Nagaland and New Delhi has never been easy. But led by Padmashree award winner Neidonuo Angami, a number of Naga women have been organising themselves for years in trust-building and conflict prevention. A Women's Feature Service and Sangat report.

Now that political alienation has been redressed to some extent by democratic changeovers, the presence of the Army in Kashmir can be more boldly reduced. The coming year is one of many possibilities, but it will be followed by an even more important year, and the opportunities at hand now must not be lost, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

The spurt in communal violence along the south-western coast has led to intensive searches for solutions. Some social activists see the answer in the old tradition of kadalkotis, sea courts with strong roots in tradition that kept peace among diverse faiths for centuries. N P Chekkutty reports.

Developments in Manipur seem to indicate that our infrastructure planners are proposing security costs to construction of large dams on the back of strategic risks analysis. This, even though they may not have embraced a sensitivity to undertake geological/ecological risk analysis itself, finds Himanshu Upadhyaya.

A panel discussion at the recent annual meet of the Network of Women in Media, India points to constraints as well as prejudices in media coverage of conflicts. As a result, those working on these stories can only hope that readers themselves will recognise the value of their work. Shoma Chatterji reports.

The furore over the counting of minorities in the armed forces has taken attention away from what such a survey might reveal. Are the minorities adequately represented in the security services? This question too should concern secular-minded citizens, says Firdaus Ahmed.

That Ex Sanghe Shakti concluded in the plains of Punjab without much ado indicates the determination of both India and Pakistan to keep temperatures below the now usual levels of the summer campaign in Kashmir. However, this positive should not cloud the questionable premises of Ex Sanghe Shakti, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

For too many of us, the killings of terrorists have come to characterise an entire religion, and taint everybody who follows it. In the Muslim areas of Bombay, residents deal with the feeling that an entire city, an entire country, maybe the whole world, sees them as responsible for terrorism, writes Dilip D'Souza.

Film-makers are finding new ways to get around the difficulties of their new environment - the loss of state patronage, subtle self-censorship in the media, and the taboos of mainstream society. They're putting the new IT world to work promoting their films, and setting up their own events to find their audience. Darryl D'Monte reports.

The United Stated-led Global War on Terror is all set to come up to India's doorstep this summer, with Pakistan's move from being a 'frontline state' to becoming a theatre of war. For India, a reflexive anti-Pakistani stance or a fashionable pro-American one are not the only choices, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Retired Army Chief General Shankar Roychowdhury, writing in a popular security magazine, says India's nuclear doctrine must be revised to cover the additional threat of sponsored nuclear terrorism that could, as part of Pakistan's proxy war, prove to be the 'Future Shock'. Firdaus Ahmed analyses the General's views.

A conference on nuclear disarmament and peace reminds us of the world's forgotten commitment to disarmament. Speakers at the event also debunked a number of claims that governments usually make in support of their militaristic and geo-political objectives. Aparna Pallavi reports.

In Advani's worldview, populist sorrow over the Babri Masjid demolition, and Narendra Modi's re-election after the Gujarat riots amount to democratic endorsement of whatever happened, and is sufficient political accountability. Thankfully, the Supreme Court doesn't agree, notes Firdaus Ahmed.

The most intractable conflicts in South Asia have remained unresolved because of the inflexibility and dogmatism of the contending parties. It is time for them to move beyond self-justification towards acknowledging and embracing the beauty of compromise, writes Ramachandra Guha.